Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is championing Australia's relationship with Indonesia after returning from a two-day visit amid news of a strained alliance between the two countries.
"We have a very good rapport," Ms Bishop said following her attendance at the Bali Democracy Forum and seventh meeting in eight weeks with her Indonesian counterpart, Marty Natalegawa.
Addressing the Liberal Party of Western Australia state conference on Saturday, Ms Bishop dismissed diplomatic tensions which have arisen from leaked documents showing Australia has engaged in a US-led intelligence-gathering operation from its embassy in Jakarta.
She says Australia and Indonesia are "deeply engaged" in up to 60 common areas of policy and business development.
"When you sit down and go through the list, you can see how closely the Abbott government is working with the Indonesian government. Yet all we hear about are a couple of areas of disagreement that will be resolved," Ms Bishop said.
She challenged the media to concentrate on the positive elements of the diplomatic relationship, "rather than the one or two areas where we are having a discussion where we might disagree, yet we are both resolved to ensure that there is no problem between our two countries".
In response to the espionage allegations, Dr Natalegawa has said Indonesia would review its information-sharing agreement with Australia.
Labor has slammed the government for running into the ground Australia's relationship with Indonesia over "missteps" including a failure to liaise with the northern neighbour over issues including asylum-seeker turn backs.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said there is a mutually-respectful relationship between Australia and Indonesia on a number of fronts including measures to combat people smuggling.
"When I was up in Jakarta a few weeks ago I was able to tell President (Susilo Bambang) Yudhoyono - a very good friend of our country, an outstanding president of Indonesia - that we utterly, totally, completely respected Indonesian sovereignty," Mr Abbott told the WA party conference.
"And if any boat ever set out from Australia to Indonesia to enter that country illegally, we would do our damnedest to stop it."
As promised before the September election, Mr Abbott said his government has made relations with Indonesia a priority and Australia's foreign policy "now has a Jakarta, not a Geneva focus, as it should".
But Labor rejected the government's positive outlook on relations with its northern neighbour, saying the alliance is "in tatters".
"The diplomacy of the Abbott government with Indonesia around asylum seekers has been absolutely inept," opposition immigration spokesman Richard Marles told reporters, slamming the government's failure to communicate with the country over its border security policy.
"This is schoolyard diplomacy backed up by halfhearted resolve and it is a sad embarrassment."
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